


Gonna Get Me Engraved

by jiwrites



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24398020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jiwrites/pseuds/jiwrites
Summary: Yuta owns a tattoo shop and is inked from head to toe.Johnny wants a tattoo, but refuses to let himself believe it.Match made in heaven?Yuta seems to think so when Johnny happens to walk in one night with some buddies.Johnny, on the other hand, would rather go home and forget this whole thing ever happened.But that doesn't seem to be in the cards.[A gift for my baby.]
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Kim Jungwoo/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Taeyong/Moon Taeil, Nakamoto Yuta/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 9
Kudos: 46





	1. Under A Neon Spell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crucified_To_A_Star](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crucified_To_A_Star/gifts).



Rising Dragon was a hole in the wall tattoo shop that had been on the outskirts of Chicago’s Chinatown district since Johnny could remember. With a red neon sign in the shape of a dragon over it’s door, it enticed those around it to come inside and look around, maybe even schedule an appointment to get something permanently inked on their skin. But, never Johnny. He stood across the street that night, looking at it with some sort of disdain, but below the surface, there was a longing he chose to ignore.

Tattoos were for people who wanted to go nowhere in life; criminals, gangsters, delinquents. Not boys like him. Boys who had talent, smarts, looks. No. He was supposed to make something of himself and a tattoo would only hinder that mission.

At least that’s what he was telling his best friends when they were out and about that night, Taeyong dragging them across the street to look into the window. “Yongie, seriously, what are we doing here? You know you aren’t actually going to get one.”

“Says who?” Taeyong counters, looking up at his friend, “Maybe I actually will. But I’ll never be able to if you won’t at least come inside.”

“There’s no reason for me to go in there,” Johnny argues, “I’m not interested. I’d just be taking up space.”

“And harshing the mood,” Doyoung offers, “Kind of like he’s doing right now.”

Johnny rolls his eyes after almost agreeing with his friend, “If you wanted to come here, you know you should’ve come by yourselves. I mean, really, what were you thinking?”

“We weren’t thinking,” Mark says from under Taeyong’s arm, “We don’t ever plan these things because you’re meant to live in the moment. Which means if Yongie wants a tattoo, he should get one. Or do you not believe in people’s happiness?”

“He’s got a point here,” Haechan nods, leaning on Doyoung’s back, “I mean, what’s the harm of just going in? Come on, John. Rebel!”

“I don’t rebel.” Johnny snorts at his friend’s actions, “I think maybe we should just get home, it’s getting late.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Taeyong nods, turning to head off with the others before Haechan breaks loose and grabs Johnny, flinging the door open and all but shoving him inside, the rest following after the pair.

Johnny turns, big as a wall, “Let me out.”

“Nope. You have to wait for Yong to decide what he wants to do.” Haechan pats his arm, standing guard at the door with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

Johnny huffs and plops down in one of the chairs in the waiting area, closing his eyes, tilting his head back and pinching the bridge of his nose, letting out a long breath.

“Not one for needles, huh?” Sounds a voice next to him.

“Huh?” Johnny peeks an eye open at the voice to see a man sitting next to him with tattoos covering his body from what the loose black tank top and jeans are showing, at least. His hair, white as snow, falls in a shaggy mess to his shoulders and his left eyebrow is slit, the right one cocked with a ring through one end.

“Mm, when people get queasy around needles, they tend to look like you just did,” he hums, lips a pale pink, a smirk playing at them.

“Oh,” Johnny shakes his head, “Nothing like that. I just don’t like tattoo shops...or tattoos, really,” he sighs deeply, looking over at his friends huddled around a poster where Taeyong is pointing at a design that he can’t quite make out.

“Really? Why not?” The man questions, leaning forward in his seat to listen to Johnny, tucking the phone in his hand into his back pocket, showing his new conversation partner he was all ears.

“Just don’t,” Johnny shrugs, trying to relax back into the seat he was in, leg bouncing on its own accord.

Well, that was underwhelming. “You just...don’t like them?” Yuta repeats, tilting his head in confusion and curiosity.

“Yeah,” he shifts uncomfortably, “Why are you here? You seem like you barely have any space left.” Johnny nods at his arms.

“But you can only see my top half. You have no idea what tattoos, if any, I have below that.” Yuta tilts his head, smiling a little crookedly, “What’s your name, kid?”

“Johnny.”

“I’m Yuta. It’s nice to mee-”

“Why’d you call me a kid? You don’t know if I’m younger than you.” Johnny frowns a bit at him, crossing his arms.

“Just a knee jerk reaction. Nothing meant by it,” he puts his hand up in surrender.

“Okay...you never answered my questi-”

“Yuta! Your appointment is here,” the man at the register calls.

Yuta jumps up and jogs over, shooting a smile back at Johnny from over his shoulder, “Nice talking to you!”

Oh…

Oh.

“Well,” Johnny thinks to himself, “I suppose that makes sense.” Then he groans and gets up, walking over to his group of friends, “What are you guys looking at now?”

Doyoung chuckles and steps aside to show him a pretty little sunflower tattoo and Johnny feels his throat tighten. “But, Taeyong wants something edgier. So, we’re still searching.”

Johnny nods and gently touches the laminated design, “Edgy, yeah. Okay…”

But all he can think is how pretty and dainty it is.

Then he hears his mother telling him how he’ll never get a job with tattoos, how everyone will stay away from him and judge him for one.

Yet, as he looks at the fragile flower, he can’t understand how it could hurt his life in any way or make anyone uncomfortable to be around him.

He finally shakes his head and snaps out his trance-like state, intoxicated by the buzzing of the neon lights and scent of adrenaline all around him. Nothing more, nothing less.

Or so he hopes.


	2. Got Me Sprung With Your Tongue Ring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Detailed depiction of a panic attack at the end of this chapter. I have put a warning in the text before it happens. And don't feel like you'll miss anything as it will all be explained and reiterated in the next chapter.

Johnny is peering down into the glass case filled with jewelry when shoes on the other side come into view and a voice sounds from above him, “Lookin’ to get pierced?”

A very familiar voice.

Johnny feels a knot in his stomach as he looks up and has his suspicions confirmed, “Jae?”

Jaehyun groans, “Oh, come on! Why are you here?”

“No, I think maybe you should answer that question yourself.”

Jaehyun mumbles and looks down at his feet, gently moving his finger back and forth on the glass.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“...I...work here.”

“No. You work at a studio downto-oh my god, you meant a tattoo studio?!” He smacks his arm.

“Ow!” Jaehyun whines, rubbing it, “Yes, I work in a tattoo studio. Sorry.” He sighs, “Look, I know you have a _thing_ , alright? But...I like it. And I don’t even do tattoos. I do piercings. Strictly piercings.” He puts his hands up like he’s innocent as he comes out from behind the counter to talk to his old friend.

“Do you have any?”

“Have any what?” Jaehyun cocks his head.

“Piercings, Jae.”

“Oh,” Jaehyun squirms a bit and speaks almost like he can’t open his mouth, “No. Course not.”

“Jaehyun?” Johnny gives him a saccharine smile, voice cheery and bright.

“Hm?” Jaehyun raises his eyebrows, lips pressed in a tight line.

“Stick out your tongue.”

“Take off your shirt,” Jaehyun fires back, giving Johnny a cheeky smile before realizing the staredown he was getting wouldn’t stop and sighs, sticking his tongue out to reveal the barbell stuck in it.

“You got your tongue pierced?!”

“Okay, first of all, stop yelling. It’s very unbecoming and this is my place of work. Second of all, it’s just a piercing and I can take it out whenever I want and you’d never know. And lastly, I was fully on board with it. So, chill.”

“But...your tongue?” Johnny frowns, biting his lip.

“Oh, I know that look.”

“What look?” Johnny huffs.

“The knitted brow, nervous lip bite, your cheeks getting red. You think it’s cool!” Jaehyun grins and sticks his tongue out.

“No, I don’t! And stop, you look like a child.”

“A child you think is cool,” Jaehyun counters, “Come on, just admit it!”

“No,” he rolls his eyes and walks back to his friends.

But Jaehyun, never one to lose an argument, follows to pester him, “Hi, guys.”

“Hey,” Taeyong smiles and hugs him, “long time, no see.”

“Sorry. Been busy.” He hugs him back and then nods at the blonde, “Hi, Mark.”

“Hi, Jae,” Mark beams from where he’s standing behind Johnny, Haechan showing him cool tiny tattoos.

“So, who are these two?” Jaehyun motions to the boys he doesn’t yet know.

“That one is Haechan, a good friend of Mark’s who’s grown on me very quickly. And this is Doyoung, Taeyong introduced us a while ago.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Jaehyun nods and smirks a bit when he finds Doyoung is outright staring at his mouth. “It didn’t hurt.”

“Huh?” Doyoung looks up, blinking a bit.

“My piercing. It didn’t hurt.” He hums, “Are you considering one?”

“No, he’s not,” Johnny butts in.

“Wow, that’s uncanny! For a minute, you sounded so much like Johnny, you’d think I’d addressed the question to him!” Jaehyun laughs sarcastically, shooting Johnny a look before turning his attention back to Doyoung. “Well?”

“N-no. Definitely not my tongue.” Doyoung quickly shakes his head.

“Something else then. A lip ring, maybe?”

“Really? You think I could pull that off?”

“Why don’t you come on over here and I can have you sample some stuff?” Jaehyun motions for him to follow as he heads back behind the counter.

Johnny lets out a small groan as he drags his feet back over towards Taeyong and leans on him, “Can we go home now? Please?” He pouts.

“No.” Taeyong frowns, “I think I might actually get something.”

“You’re serious? What could you possibly want to get permanently inked onto your body? Hm?”

Taeyong proudly holds up a sketch of a small dog’s face that sort of resembled his own.

“You’re going to get Ruby... ? Really?” He studies his face for any sign of it being a joke before blinking, “I really never took you for the type to get a tattoo, I have to say.”

“Well, just goes to show, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.”

“I suppose…” Johnny watches him go back to flipping through the designs and then over at Jaehyun and Doyoung, as the former is positioning a lip ring onto the other and holding a mirror up for him. He never gauged Doyoung for a spur of the moment piercing either, but maybe he was wrong.

“Huh,” he blinks and looks over at Mark and Haechan who are currently discussing which small cross tattoo would look better on Mark’s arm.

Then, Yuta walks out with a freshly tattooed client after what had to be about 40 minutes, “Okay, so just remember to wash it very gently with mild soap and use the goo I gave you to help with the healing. And don’t pick!” He laughs and Johnny didn’t notice the client before but now he recognizes him.

Except he wasn’t in his lab coat, like Johnny was used to. Dr. Klein was a clean cut, very kind and intelligent primary care doctor that Johnny and his family had been going to for years. And here he was with his shoulder taped up like he’d had surgery done and all Johnny can think is: How?

How could a person like that get a tattoo and still be that person? **[STOP HERE IF TRIGGERED BY PANIC ATTACKS]**

He feels his world shift suddenly, his stomach lurches and he’s desperately searching for the bathroom. And he knows he’s sweating, he can feel it, cold beads running down the back of his neck and forming on his forehead.

“Hey! Johnny Suh? Haven’t seen you around here before!” It’s Dr. Klein’s voice, he’s sure, but it’s muffled and far away and hey, when did the room start spinning?

Johnny feels his heart rate pick up and then his breathing is starting to get harder and he can’t figure out why. But, he can’t stop it. Something is wrong.

“Hey, dude,” comes a very distorted, but very much Jaehyun voice and Johnny can feel some sort of weight on his shoulders. “You don’t look so hot.”

Johnny feels like firing back, “Neither do you, with that stupid piercing,” but his own tongue feels heavy in his mouth and he can’t get the words out. He hangs his head and squeezes his eyes shut to stop the room from spinning but his body feels like it’s going even faster.

He looks up at a very concerned Jaehyun and gives him what he hopes is an apologetic look before he looks back down and lets out his stomach on the floor between them.

Then, it goes dark again and he feels something firm collide with the right side of his body, hearing Mark tell someone to call 911 and someone else saying it would be okay, and he’s not sure which of them they're talking to.


	3. Jumping Out of My Flesh

“Hey! Hey! He’s coming to,” a voice echoes in Johnny’s ears and it makes his stomach lurch, but he’s not sure he could let out the contents if he wanted to.

His head is pounding, the right side of his body is killing him and he is acutely aware of the putrid smell of vomit somewhere around him, attacking his nose.The floor feels like it’s slowly rotating, but is coming to a stop and something warm in pressing to his cheek, then his forehead, the smell of something like jasmines combatting the vomit smell from his nose. “Mmmm…” he groans, squeezing his already shut eyes even tighter, a bright light invading the blackness behind his eyelids.

“Johnny?” A quiet voice whispers from beside him, “You alright, dude?” Mark. His little brother. “Man, can you hear me?”

“Yeah,” he croaks, throat raw and hot, like something had ripped through it. Oh, no. Did he vomit? It seemed like a very distinct possibility now. But he wasn’t sure why he would do so. At least not currently. He wasn’t even sure of where he was at the moment.

“Okay, son, can you open your eyes?” Who the hell is that? Johnny shakes his head at the deep voice and the pounding in his head worsens, nearly causing tears to spring to his eyes. “Son, please. Come on.” Johnny starts to blink his eyes open and thankfully someone’s head is now blocking the blaring fluorescents above him. “There we go. Look at me.”

Johnny does so and immediately he’s assaulted, a flashlight shone directly into his eyes and he’s being expected to follow a finger, which of course he is, but he’s grumpy about it. Who did this guy think he was? No, Johnny really wanted to know, because he has no idea. Then his eyes flicker to his badge and dread fills him. A paramedic. “Mmm...who’s hurt?” He tries to look for Mark, but another burly man is holding his head still.

“No one’s hurt, we just need to make sure that you’re alright.” The flashlight wielding one tries to reassure him and Johnny wants to yell at him, but he’s more concerned with why he might not be alright.

“Mark…” He grunts, eyes closing again when the pain in his right temple starts to throb, wanting to be acknowledged.

“I’m right here, dude. You’re gonna be fine.” His hand, warm and comforting, finds Johnny’s and squeezes it, soothing him to a point.

“What’s goin’ on?” He asks and notices his speech is slurred, which is weird. He hadn’t any drinks. Had he? He hoped not.

“You passed out.” Mark says softly and Johnny can tell from the tiny shake in his voice that Mark is more freaked out than he wants to let on and Johnny understands, but he feels bad. He never wants to cause that emotion in Mark.

“What?” He frowns, “Why?”

“I don’t know. You just fell over suddenly.” Mark says, rubbing his thumb over the back of Johnny’s hand, trying to calm both their nerves. Johnny appreciates it.

“We want to take him in for a scan, just to make sure that he doesn’t have a concussion or anything like that,” the man holding his head hostage says to Mark, “Would you like to ride along?”

Johnny wants to fight back, refuse, say he’s fine, but he’s honestly not sure that he is. Instead, he lets them load him onto a stretcher and finally looks around, barely moving his head and just using his eyes. His stomach churns again. The smell of ink and alcohol fill his senses, hair standing on edge as his hands start to sweat. Right. The tattoo shop. It all rushes back then. Jaehyun, the piercings, the blonde man, his lifelong doctor with a large spot on his shoulder. It must have triggered something in him. He sighs and shuts his eyes as they exit the shop, at least something good having come from this.

The ride feels like hours, but must be only a few minutes, the paramedic with the flashlight asking him endless questions as the other talks to Mark, who refuses to release his hand. Johnny’s happy to be out of the vehicle, but his heart aches when he hears Mark’s small whimper of disagreement when he’s told he can’t come back with Johnny. He wants to tell him it’ll be alright, but his voice is stuck in his throat.

From them on, it was like they wanted Johnny to puke again, making him walk when he couldn’t balance very well, putting him in a loud machine that was whirring around him and moving him from sitting to standing at very quick intervals. It was honestly sadistic to him and he just wanted out.

It wouldn’t be another few hours at least, in Johnny’s mind, until he was finally sitting in a hospital bed, body sore and an IV stuck deep in his arm, pumping him full of fluids and pain medications. He looks up when the door opens and feels relief flood his body when Mark rushes in. He ignores the pain his body fills with then Mark gathers him in a tight hug, because he knows Mark needs this. “Hey, buddy.” He chuckles weakly.

“Are you okay? What did they say?” He pulls the chair next to the bed closer and sits, gripping his hand, frowning deeply.

“I just need to replenish my fluids and then I can go home. I have a concussion, so I need to rest,” he says softly, own voice hurting his ears.

“Oh,” Mark nods and Johnny can see the weight lift off his shoulders. “That’s good, then. It’s not bad.” He takes a deep breath, “Oh! Um, here,” he lets go of him to grab his backpack from behind him and pulls out a Jell-O cup and spoon, “They had a bunch of flavors, but I figured since we’re in a hospital, lime was appropriate.” He laughs nervously.

“You jerk,” Johnny smiles lazily. “You can leave it on the end table. I’m not sure I can eat, yet.” He admits, then bites his lip. “The doctor thinks I had a panic attack, but I told him I’d never had one.”

“A panic attack? From what?” Mark frowns, putting the see-through green container on the end table, tilting his head.

“I guess shock? I dunno. It was weird seeing Dr. Klein, ya know?” He shrugs.

“That can trigger a panic attack?”

“Apparently? Seems kind of like an overreaction, but,” he shrugs again, picking at the hospital blanket draped over him.

“Guess your body felt differently,” Mark tries his best to crack a joke, but it’s obvious he’s unsure of the limits for this situation. “I’d better call Hyuck and him and the others know. They’re all pretty worried about you. Especially Jae. He’s pretty shaken up.” He sighs, “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Johnny nods as he steps out, brows furrowing when the door opens just a minute later, “Mark?”

“Uh, no, sorry,” the blonde man from the shop appears in the doorway. Yuta, Johnny’s brain supplies. “I thought maybe you’d want your bag,” he says, stepping in, carrying Johnny’s small messenger that he doesn’t remember ever taking off.

“Oh...thanks,” Johnny bites his lip, “Wait, how did you get back here? Isn’t it just family?”

“Oh, well,” Yuta shrugs, “I told them I had your bag and that you only trusted certain people with it and might cause a scene if anyone else brought it in. They didn’t wanna risk it with your condition, so here I am.” He smiles nervously, standing by the foot of the bed. He nods at his arm and chuckles, “Guess I really was wrong about the whole needle thing, huh?”

“Yeah,” Johnny hums, “...Why go through all the trouble to bring me my bag?” He frowns.

“...I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed seriously uneasy and I’ve never been around when someone just collapsed like you did. It was pretty scary, big guy.” He says softly, putting the bag down on the little table at the foot of the bed, fingers lingering on the strap. “I can leave if you want…”

“No, it’s okay. I was just curious...if you don’t mind me asking...what did Dr. Klein get?” He asks softly.  
“Oh, it was the Caduceus, the medical symbol thingy with the snakes.” Yuta hums, “Just black and shaded, said he was proud of himself for doing his job so long.”

“Oh…” Johnny looks down at his hands, feeling bad for having judged him so harshly. “That’s nice…”

“Yeah, it is,” there’s a slight snip in Yuta’s voice, but Johnny doesn’t take it personally. He seemed really uneasy. Maybe he didn’t like hospitals.

“Well, thank you for bringing me my bag.” Johnny smiles a bit.

“No worries. And, uh, tell your friend that if he decides he wants that tattoo, he should come see me.” He nods, “Alright, Imma get outta your hair, now,” Yuta smiles tightly and walks up to him, patting his shoulder heavily before sticking his hands in his jeans’ pockets and nearly skidding out of the room.

“Yeah, see ya,” he nods, frowning softly as he sits up, struggling but finally managing to lean back against the pillows, grabbing for his Jell-O cup, taking a bite of it. His nose wrinkles and all he can think about it is how small Yuta looked just now, despite his entire visible half being covered in tattoos. And then it hits him, Yuta was wearing a coat. There was no need to keep it on in the hospital, but he did. Maybe he did it for Johnny’s sake, he wasn’t sure. But something told him he wanted to know.


End file.
